KK wrote:Just seen that The Rock has been in Richmond, London for the past two months. Appears to be having a good time on the basis of his Instagram.

The size of his gym/tent that’s been erected in the garden...

Just read about this as well. I knew he was filming here but assumed he was going back and forth to the states. It’s a shame he couldn’t have appeared at wwe in the uk the other week. Even if it was an off camera appearance for the uk crowd. Especially as he’s just dropped his new trailer for the film based on Paige. Would have been a perfect time to have unveiled the trailer.

NXT was trash this week. It's often poor after TakeOver, comprising of recaps, and stuff from their YouTube channel, but usually there's a decent dark match from TakeOver. Everything this week was squashy, except Cross vs. Gargano's wife. I just can't get away with her though, she always seems so miserable. She doesn't seem very good either.

Going to try and catch up with the Tag League shows on NJPW World this weekend. I think Starrcade might be good too on Sunday. It's a decent card (Joe vs Styles in a cage, Nakamura vs Mysterio, Asuka's in action (sadly she'll lose), Balor vs McIntyre. Hope it won't be too hard avoiding spoilers, as it's shown a day later than the actual event.

BAKA wrote:NXT was trash this week. It's often poor after TakeOver, comprising of recaps, and stuff from their YouTube channel, but usually there's a decent dark match from TakeOver. Everything this week was squashy, except Cross vs. Gargano's wife. I just can't get away with her though, she always seems so miserable. She doesn't seem very good either.

Going to try and catch up with the Tag League shows on NJPW World this weekend. I think Starrcade might be good too on Sunday. It's a decent card (Joe vs Styles in a cage, Nakamura vs Mysterio, Asuka's in action (sadly she'll lose), Balor vs McIntyre. Hope it won't be too hard avoiding spoilers, as it's shown a day later than the actual event.

I'm guessing the original plan was to have Riddle v Ohno as the main event this week but it got moved to Takeover proper.

It was short, but sweet. Far more enjoyable than SS, but very much a house show. Weird seeing Miz as a heel again. Styles vs Joe was solid. I wish Nakamura vs Mysterio stayed a singles match, but it was cool to see Rusev. Glad we didn't get Charlotte. A shame the Bray Wyatt return wasn't shown.

British Wrestling In Turmoil: New Restrictions On NXT UK Talent ImminentWell, it was inevitable that this would happen eventually . . .

It has come to light following this weekend’s NXT UK tapings in Liverpool that several members of the roster have been given new contracts. The new deals will see an increase to the wrestlers’ annual salary (we do not know figures at this stage) but will prevent them from working for any other promotions in the UK.

This directly contradicts previous WWE statements at the launch of the brand that there would be “no restrictions” on talent and that WWE were not “the big bad wolf” coming into the scene and signing talent to stop them from working elsewhere.

Previously NXT UK talent were banned from wrestling for promotions with a significant online presence or with distribution deals (such as Defiant and RevPro) but were still permitted to wrestle on local-level indy events, as well as for WWE’s partner promotions PROGRESS, ICW and wXw (in Germany).

That gravy train has ended.

The terms of the new contracts prevent NXT UK talent from working anywhere else except for the partner groups, giving WWE exclusivity on its roster. These changes are perhaps a response to the disappointing houses NXT UK has drawn for recent tapings, with only a reported 600-800 in attendance on each night of the Liverpool events this past weekend, far less than the venue capacity. The logic behind this is that if a fan can pay £10 to see the stars of the show at a local indy group then they are unlikely to pay significantly more to see them at NXT UK.

We should stress that this new deal does not apply to everyone on the roster, so you may still see some NXT UK talent appearing on indy shows, which would signify that they do not have new deals. We are told that it does apply to the majority of talent though.

(c) WWENew restrictionsThe majority of those no longer able to work elsewhere will be allowed to finish up their advertised bookings for the end of the year, but there will be additional restrictions attached. One of these is that talent can only wrestle on a show if there is a paramedic there, due to several members of the roster turning up to the recent UK Performance Centre training session carrying injuries that WWE were unaware of. For several smaller promotions, this could be a problem.

More interestingly, NXT UK talent will not be permitted to wrestle against anyone contracted to ROH, Impact, NJPW, WOS or any other major promotion. Previously this had not been the case. This applies immediately, meaning any previously booked and advertised matches pitting NXT UK talent against wrestlers from any of the aforementioned groups need to be changed.

Tidal Wrestling, a promotion based in Leeds, were the first to publicly acknowledge the situation, posting on their Facebook page that due to changes in circumstances their December card would mark the final appearance of NXT UK talent on their shows. Other promotions are expected to follow suit, with several groups having been informed today about the changes.

(c) WWEChoking the sceneWhere all of this leaves the UK scene is unclear.

While there is still a wealth of talent in the country, the rate at which WWE snapped up so much established talent in one go is surely going to have a detrimental effect now that they are not allowed to wrestle anywhere else.

Rather than helping the UK scene by giving a boost to local promotions who were able to advertise and use NXT UK talent on their cards, WWE have choked the life out of the scene by cherry-picking who it feels are the top guys and giving nothing back.

Outside of the talent – who are being paid more to wrestle less – the only beneficiaries of this appear to be WWE and its partner promotions.

If you care about the future of pro wrestling in the UK, or worldwide for that matter, we encourage you to support your local independent wrestling scene.

Don't watch NXT UK or any British wrestling really so I'm not arsed but it still feels like WWE just rushed into it because of World of Sport which failed and now they're too far into it to stop or hold off for a bit. iirc they even rushed it out the same week that Rev Pro started on Freesport (rating for that are crap, unsurprisingly)

Wonder if those new contracts include the women as well since that could really strawberry float things over for EVE since I think it's one of the main UK and European women-only companies and WWE would look like dicks if they stopped some of the talent who regularly appear there from working.

British Wrestling In Turmoil: New Restrictions On NXT UK Talent ImminentWell, it was inevitable that this would happen eventually . . .

It has come to light following this weekend’s NXT UK tapings in Liverpool that several members of the roster have been given new contracts. The new deals will see an increase to the wrestlers’ annual salary (we do not know figures at this stage) but will prevent them from working for any other promotions in the UK.

This directly contradicts previous WWE statements at the launch of the brand that there would be “no restrictions” on talent and that WWE were not “the big bad wolf” coming into the scene and signing talent to stop them from working elsewhere.

Previously NXT UK talent were banned from wrestling for promotions with a significant online presence or with distribution deals (such as Defiant and RevPro) but were still permitted to wrestle on local-level indy events, as well as for WWE’s partner promotions PROGRESS, ICW and wXw (in Germany).

That gravy train has ended.

The terms of the new contracts prevent NXT UK talent from working anywhere else except for the partner groups, giving WWE exclusivity on its roster. These changes are perhaps a response to the disappointing houses NXT UK has drawn for recent tapings, with only a reported 600-800 in attendance on each night of the Liverpool events this past weekend, far less than the venue capacity. The logic behind this is that if a fan can pay £10 to see the stars of the show at a local indy group then they are unlikely to pay significantly more to see them at NXT UK.

We should stress that this new deal does not apply to everyone on the roster, so you may still see some NXT UK talent appearing on indy shows, which would signify that they do not have new deals. We are told that it does apply to the majority of talent though.

(c) WWENew restrictionsThe majority of those no longer able to work elsewhere will be allowed to finish up their advertised bookings for the end of the year, but there will be additional restrictions attached. One of these is that talent can only wrestle on a show if there is a paramedic there, due to several members of the roster turning up to the recent UK Performance Centre training session carrying injuries that WWE were unaware of. For several smaller promotions, this could be a problem.

More interestingly, NXT UK talent will not be permitted to wrestle against anyone contracted to ROH, Impact, NJPW, WOS or any other major promotion. Previously this had not been the case. This applies immediately, meaning any previously booked and advertised matches pitting NXT UK talent against wrestlers from any of the aforementioned groups need to be changed.

Tidal Wrestling, a promotion based in Leeds, were the first to publicly acknowledge the situation, posting on their Facebook page that due to changes in circumstances their December card would mark the final appearance of NXT UK talent on their shows. Other promotions are expected to follow suit, with several groups having been informed today about the changes.

(c) WWEChoking the sceneWhere all of this leaves the UK scene is unclear.

While there is still a wealth of talent in the country, the rate at which WWE snapped up so much established talent in one go is surely going to have a detrimental effect now that they are not allowed to wrestle anywhere else.

Rather than helping the UK scene by giving a boost to local promotions who were able to advertise and use NXT UK talent on their cards, WWE have choked the life out of the scene by cherry-picking who it feels are the top guys and giving nothing back.

Outside of the talent – who are being paid more to wrestle less – the only beneficiaries of this appear to be WWE and its partner promotions.

If you care about the future of pro wrestling in the UK, or worldwide for that matter, we encourage you to support your local independent wrestling scene.

I thought something like this might be on its way after Joe Coffey missed his first Discovery Wrestling show in 4 years earlier this month (due to being on Smackdown in Aberdeen).

He's supposed to be taking on Joe Hendry at their next event in January, but I'm guessing that'll be out the window if they can't wrestle against folk from Impact etc.

My hope is that there's some sort of mass backlash against it and everything turns out fine for everyone. I know it's the longest of long shots, but remember, *anything* can happen in the WW...nah, it's all strawberry floated, isn't it?

I’ve got Sky Sports back for Christmas and so far this RAW has sucked more todgers than Katie Price.

It’s been like an elongated episode of Heat from 2003. ‘Highlight’ has been Drake Maverick stealing Bobby Roode’s robe, sticking it over a toilet, and taking a piss on it. Roode was distracted watching it on the Tron and was then pinned by AOP.

Elsewhere on the show, Dean Ambrose was shown having an injection in his arse. Which they aired twice. Rhonda Rousey cut one of the worst promos she’s ever done, Lucha House Party defeated jobbers to the jobbers The Revival in a handicap match, jobber Jinder Mahal pinned jobber No Way Jose to no reaction, and Seth Rollins faced Dolph Ziggler for the 400th time.

Can’t for the life of me think why RAW is setting new standards for low ratings every week.

I watch Raw via the highlight videos on YouTube these days, I just watched the Ambrose one this week, none of the others seemed interesting or any bit different from any other week going by the headings and thumbnails.The new Edge and Christian show episode was good at least.

WWE need The Elite. But I really hope they stick together and do their own thing, and going by rumors their own thing could be quite something! And without those guys and with Reigns being out indefinitely, WWE will be in some deep gooseberry fool soon if some big changes aren’t made somewhere high up.

The rankings WWE produce themselves have now confirmed a massive milestone for the NXT product- as more viewers watched NXT TakeOver: WarGames II than Survivor Series, which has always been touted as one of the four main shows WWE produces each year.

NXT TakeOver: WarGames II was solidly in first place for viewership, followed by the Survivor Series PPV. If this wasn’t enough, the pre-show for WarGames II ranked third for viewership, followed by WWE Chronicle with Dean Ambrose and the Survivor Series 2017 PPV before the 2018 kickoff show.

For NXT, this is tremendous news. They outshined the main roster, as Triple H continues to show his talented mind for the business. However, it also brings concern for WWE over their main roster, which failed to deliver the statistics it desires on one of their biggest shows.

The lack of viewership could be attributed to the lack of title matches, Becky Lynch being injured, and a card that didn’t have much of a build due to Crown Jewel- which, by the way, ranked as the seventh most-watched item on the WWE Network since Survivor Series, and is in the spot behind the kickoff show for Survivor Series 2018.

Slimgrady wrote:WWE need The Elite. But I really hope they stick together and do their own thing, and going by rumors their own thing could be quite something! And without those guys and with Reigns being out indefinitely, WWE will be in some deep gooseberry fool soon if some big changes aren’t made somewhere high up.

We’ve seen characters mean nothing though. Their talent pool is massive and the product couldn’t be more gooseberry fool if it tried. You think Vince is going to allow the Young Bucks go over? Is he hell.

Slimgrady wrote:WWE need The Elite. But I really hope they stick together and do their own thing, and going by rumors their own thing could be quite something! And without those guys and with Reigns being out indefinitely, WWE will be in some deep gooseberry fool soon if some big changes aren’t made somewhere high up.